According to Plan
by ArielleLN
Summary: The group of friends that surround Hermione and Malfoy suspect nothing of their 'closet dating', as long as everything goes according to plan.
1. Mudblood

Mudblood

An ecstatic Hermione followed her fellow companions as they trudged down the steep slopes toward their old friend, Hagrid's house. A blonde boy with eyes she could melt in filled her mind and the thought of his arrival caused a shiver down her spine. Everything was planned accordingly, no one except for the boy in her mind and she knew.

Harry and Ron suspected nothing but a simple bickering was upon them when they spotted the one who was occupying Hermione's mind. He guided two tall, fat boys that thought of nothing but pumpkin cakes and pumpkin juice; pumpkins of course were in season. A plan that was put together too quickly and without details was splattered across his face.

"Potter," his favorite 'spitting word', was of course, spat with an intonation on the 'p'. "What, having fun with Weasly and your _mudblood _girlfriend?" a smirk was stapled onto his cheeks. Though he was following the plan, and Hermione has heard it exit his mouth more than once, she still cringed, for he had made it sound sincere. Harry and Ron simultaneously took a breath, ready to bash him with the worst insults they knew such as, 'what will happen, is your _father _going to hear about this?' or 'I've heard better comebacks from Neville,' which is pitiful compared to the ones Hermione had silently made in the past.

In order to follow the plan, a name must be created in her mind to describe him and sound sincere. "Evil little cockroach" rolled off her tongue before she could think. The 'scared' boy leaned against a tall boulder as her wand touched his throat. A concerned Ron hollered after her that it wasn't worth it. "I couldn't agree more," she almost said.

There was one last step to the plan: action. She slowly turned around to show them that they were right in which gave the boy the signal. A soft force field enchantment left his lips, too soft for Harry, Ron or even Grabbe and Goyle to hear. Hermione swiftly turned on her heels and slammed her fist on the force field and he gave a cry of pain as he pushed his head onto the boulder behind them. An unidentifiable word came from the boy as he pushed his companions out of the way. With Grabbe and Goyle trailing behind him, he did not stop running until he was in the Slytherine common room.

What they had not heard was that he had said, "all according to plan," and he fell asleep that night with the same words in his head, and Hermione danced around them.

What he saw in his dream was a radiant Hermione giving him an envelope with gold lettering on the outside in which said "Draco". The dream ended before he could open it. His dream had been interrupted and he woke disappointed in the dark room. Interrupted by soft hands slightly shaking his bare shoulder, the soft hands of a brilliant witch that he was in love with.


	2. The Beginning

The Beginning

Ever since Hermione's mysterious first year at Hogwarts, the thought of Draco was held in the back of her mind, in a compartment that no one could enter except for her. His personality was what she loved most, to Harry that was the worst part of him, but Hermione couldn't get his rebellious attitude to stop intruding her mind. It was something she wasn't; everything he did was what she would do everything to avoid doing throughout her life.

Hogwarts was a place where rumors spread fast, usually with a sack of lies covering it. All over there was whispers about who kissed who or who did what with whom, and it was never ending to Hermione. Out of the abyss of rumors, one stood out to her:

She had been walking from the library to the great hall for lunch as she passed Pansy, with her mouth close to the ear of another Slytherin. Her cheeks were pulled back into a devious smile and the words came out as if it were a whole. 'Draco' was the word that stood out to her, and drew her closer. She casually walked to the wall next to the bench that the two Slytherins sat on and she inched closer to them, with her back to the wall and books to her chest.

The words Pansy said blended together and Hermione desperately searched for a word she could make out. By the time she was just a mere two feet from them, she could hear every other word such as "Draco, love, girl, Slytherin? Gryffindor?". Her heart immediately skipped a beat, and her stomach flipped. The thought of her crush liking someone else weakened her knees.

As the world around her stiffened, she began to walk near the great hall, her heart barely beating. As she took her first step, her right foot caught behind the leg of the bench. As she fell to the floor in what seemed to her as slow motion, all of her books broke away from her grasp. Her stomach touched the ground first a few inches away from Pansy's feet.

"Watch it, Granger!" she hissed, "Next time I'll-" she then choked. Pansy's sudden silence caused Hermione to look up. The most evil grin Hermione had ever seen flashed off Pansy toward the ground, where all of Hermione's books and papers lay scattered. Hermione slowly followed Pansy's eyes to see what they were glued on. Her lungs stopped moving as her most secret book sat open. A drawing she wanted no one to see protruded through the papers surrounding the book. She quickly propped herself on her knees and began to pick up the papers.

The few people who were in conversation silenced and stared at Hermione. She felt each eye pierce her. Slow footsteps were heard in the hall where a dropped pin could be heard and stopped just short of Hermione's papers. She did not look up as a hand softly took her secret book. Tears fell on the papers she had gathered in her arms. As she picked up the last dropped feather she looked up, about to rip the book out of the hands of who was holding it.

Bewildered eyes stared back at Hermione as tears streamed down her cheeks. Pansy happily slipped behind who Hermione ogled at.

"What a pathetic girl, Draco," she giggled. Hermione snatched the book from him, his mouth slightly open, and held it in her shaking hands as she ran toward the Gryffindor common room.


	3. Avoidance

Avoidance

Everyone knew why Hermione stayed in her dorm the Monday after Draco saw her drawing. Whether it was on the way to the bathroom or to get food, she would be avoided. Smirks and giggles followed her with whispers saying, "They say she had a drawing of a Slytherin, Malfoy I think," or "she's the girl who's obsessed with Malfoy!" She hurriedly rushed to her room and released the tears that had gathered up in the corners of her eyes.

She wanted more than anything to be noticed by Draco, but not like this, as the "obsessed girl," or the, "stalker girl". While only alone, so she wouldn't confirm the roomers that she had a drawing of Draco, she would take it out and gaze over every inch of the picture, usually ending up at his eyes.

When she drew the picture, she had never seen Draco so calm. He had ventured alone to the shore of the lake. Hermione had followed him in a delusional state, with the impression that she was going to tell him her amateur feelings, having before asked Ginny for advice anonymously. She hid behind a tree close to his back as he threw stones into the water. She especially noticed that he would feel the whole stone before he threw it.

As he got bored of that, he huffed, walked up to a tree to the left of him and sat against it with on knee propped up and the other leg under it. It amazed her that he would just stair into the water as the sun's cloud blocked light reflected off of it. She quietly took out her secret notebook, new at the time, and sketched him, taking extra time on his eyes.

She felt lucky to be hiding there at that moment because there was enough time to draw a decent sketch of him and study him. She memorized each inch of him, once against ending up at his eyes. Though her heart was beating excessively when she had followed him, it seemed to calm down, as if his peace passed on to her. Some sort of contagious calmness.

She watched him until he grew bored once more and left the lake, leaving his scarf behind. Once he was out of site, she ran to the tree he sat against and picked up the green and silver scarf. As it came close to her face, she could smell the scent of liquorish and cinnamon. _Probably from the Halloween Banquet _she immediately thought. She carefully folded the scarf and put it in her bag, along with her secret book. She walked back to the castle, no longer having a small crush on Draco.

_During the nights in which she felt alone, she would take out the scarf from her trunk and wrap it around her neck, falling asleep to the scent and warmth from the boy who she had fallen in love with near the lake. _


	4. Betrayal

Betrayal

Harry and Ron avoided her from the start, which gave Hermione an excuse to stay in her bed during Monday. Betrayal was felt on both sides:

When Harry confronted her, she felt relief because he was the more sensitive one out of the two boys. They met in the common room when everyone else was at breakfast,

"H-Harry!" Hermione shyly mumbled, "I've been trying to talk to you," Harry could easily tell that she had been crying all night.

"About what, how you like Malfoy, yeah, I know," he spat, and looked into eyes, "how could you be in love with the guy I hate?"

"I-I don't, I'm not, It's not like that, okay?" Hermione's voice quivered. Pain reappeared in her eyes for what little tears she had left were gone, but more were forced to be created.

"What ever you say, have fun not being our friend," he then walked past her, and purposely bumped shoulders with Hermione.

"Ron knows too?" she stiffened, and turned around as he stopped at the entrance of the boy's stairs.

"Yeah and he wants you to stay away from him," Harry replied. She looked down and gripped her skirt as she stood there and sobbed.

As girls came and gone, and Hermione laid on her bed with the curtains covering it, caressing the scarf and staring at her drawing. _I still love him _constantly repeated in her head, but Monday night it turned to _I still love him… Homework… I still love him… Homework…_ She finished her homework that night with tears on her cheeks.

Using her time turner, she arrived to potions class early after spending extra time using enchantments to make it look like she had not been crying. Once again, she could feel the eyes pierce her. Harry and Ron grudgingly sat down next to her, making her feel horrible because she could sense their anger yet relieved because they were the closest anyone had gotten to her.

Hermione could tell that even Professor Snape looked at her differently. As she lay on her bed that night she wondered _how could my life turn into a living hell so fast?_ Crying herself to sleep became common with her yet that night she slipped into slumber smiling. To herself she thought, _everybody must care about me if they're making a big deal about who I like._

_For the next week Hermione felt as though she was the only one affected, and for once, she was wrong_.


	5. Replacement

Replacement

Competition was a word that barely crossed Pansy's mind, especially when it came to boys, she was with Draco and no one questioned otherwise. The thought of another girl liking her boyfriend was like a mosquito bite, she wanted to scratch it, but blood would appear eventually.

At first, the thought of _Hermione Granger _even having a crush on Draco let alone anyone amused her, but as she pressed her fingers on his lower back while Draco brushed her collar bone with his lips, she couldn't stop imagining him doing this with Hermione. As a braw strap was slowly pulled off of her shoulders, then the other, Draco's features, silhouetted by the dim light, seemed strange to her, different, he looked as though he could love another, as though there could be someone else.


	6. Confrontation Part One

Confrontation Part One

As all other rumors pass, so did hers. Students went to class, ate lunch and shared other devious secrets. For once, Hermione was happy to be ignored; she could do what she wanted without feeling as though she was stripped from her skin. Only a few still kept what had happened in their minds, and some let it manifest, obsessively, not letting it go until something was done about it.

Though she felt alone, Hermione was happy, happy to resume her daily routines, happy to be able to raise her hand in class without question of who would be sneering at her. Bliss filled her as she was able to walk through the isles of the library at peace.

There was a list in Hermione's mine of people to avoid; on the top were Draco, then Pansy, Ron and Harry. The last one on the list was a girl named Lavender, she had pushed Hermione, making it look accidental, to get her to drop her secret notebook and revel the drawing. But to Lavender's dismay, Hermione did not have the secret notebook for she hid it in her trunk and did not take it out until it was safe to.

Her feelings for Draco still swam in her mind, on those quiet days when she walked the halls alone; she let her love for him become a new layer in her heart, until layer after layer filled her.

The last layer was thicker than the others, as she walked, listening to her own footsteps, no one there, and her breathing short, she thought of him, enough to see his figure in the hallway. But it moved closer, toward her, and she could hear the footsteps. She quickly held her breath and looked down, instinctively holding her books tighter to her chest.

A clink was made as her time turner fell out of her bag, yet she walked on. _Whatever it is, I can get another. _She passed him quickly and heard as his footsteps stopped just short of the time turner. She could tell that he picked it up.

_"Granger!" echoed through the hallway, piercing through the silence that she had took comfort in. _


	7. Confrontation Part Two

Confrontation Part Two

"Who do you have a crush on?" Ginny whispered as she stroked Crookshanks, "tell me truthfully."

Hermione stared back at her with reddened cheeks and opened her mouth, "First tell me yours."

Ginny then smirked and sighed, "You already know, I love Harry, but he hasn't even looked in my direction since last year. Now you." As Ginny scooted closer to Hermione in anticipation, Crookshanks climbed in her lap.

She sucked in, "The one I love is-".

"Yeah?"

"No one," Hermione breathed.

"Bummer."

Through her hair, Hermione could see Draco's feet; she had turned around and was looking nowhere except the floor. Her time turner glimmered in his hand as he extended his arm.

"You dropped this, Granger," he sternly whispered, "looks important."

"Yes," she replied, almost too quiet for him to hear, she then opened her free hand and watched as Malfoy dropped it in her hand. _Please don't touch me, _she thought.

"What is it?"

"T-time t- I c-can't tell you," she was on the verge of tears, her heart couldn't take it, she could feel them gather in the corner of her eyes. Draco could feel the heat radiate off of Hermione's red cheeks.

"And why not?" he took a step closer to her and she tightened her grip on her books which made her fingers ache. "I swear, you're gonna cry, aren't you?"

"No."

"I saw your drawing of me…"

"O-oh."

"I don't know what the others said about it, bunch of pricks, but… I like-." A sniffle from Hermione suddenly interrupted him, tears ran down her face and she couldn't stop.

"All I was gonna say was-"

Sniffle

"Why don't you calm down?"

Sniffle

"I seriously don't know what's wrong-"

"Please," she choked, "don't be so modest…"

He looked at her, surprised, "what?".

"I don't deserve a compliment from you," she sobbed.

"Wait- who in the hell said that you-?" Hermione suddenly collapsed to her knees, still clutching her books to her chest.

Her sobs echoed through the hallways as Draco sat in front of Hermione and watched her sob. He leaned closer to her face, but she blocked him by looking down. A thumb gently pressed against her chin and he lifted her head up. She could barely see him through the tears, but as his lips touched hers, the tears seemed to clear away. The heat in her body roared with flames, her fingertips felt as though she was touching a hot stove while hammers banged in her heart. Her eyes were closed when he broke away and she stared at him with surprise though her wet eyes.

He looked back with a devious smile.

"That shut you up, didn't it?"


	8. The Commencement

The Commencement

"_That shut you up, didn't it?"_

As Draco stepped back away from Hermione, the tears stopped, the sobs quieted, her grip on the books loosened and all she could hear was her heart throbbing. She didn't, more like couldn't, think, for her crush, the boy she had secretly been in love with for three years, just kissed her.

"Now will ya shut up? Jeez," he sighed, and looked down at her secret notebook. Hermione didn't move, her eyes glued to his. "Don't think anything of it, though, it was just to shut you up, okay?"

"O-okay."

"Can I look at the picture?" he asked, and pointed toward her chest, where the book was held against. She quickly handed him the notebook and looked down again, _I don't want you to…_she thought, _but I can't say no!_ He flipped through each page, scanned them as they were covered in scribbled poems and crossed out thoughts. When he turned the page to the picture, Hermione looked away, embarrassed, as she remembered her fall from the few weeks before.

He immediately knew where he was, _I was near the shore, but where was she?_ Hermione looked back at him as he looked at the drawing and could tell that he was embarrassed too, and when he lifted his head from looking down, he quickly looked back down, grumbled, and turned the page. The next page was a surprise to him; it was full of scribbled writing and water damage. He brought the book closer to his face and read what he could, it said:

_Why can't I be the one that everyone adores? _

_Or at least be as beautiful as the shores?  
Why god, must you inflict all these sores?_

_So no one can see through these closed doors. _

_In my heart where pain is caused by wars. _

The word _pain _was what he immediately thought of.

"Gahh, uh, you should write more poems," he spat and shoved her secret notebook back at her.

A small wisp of air exited Hermione's mouth with a "Thanks" trailing behind it. Draco then stood up, so Hermione's face was level to his groin, which caused them to both blush and she stood up quickly, popping her ankle. They then stood there, facing each other, and smelled the other one's breath. Hermione, chestnuts. Draco, lemon drops.

"Gahh, uh bye," he huffed, turned around and started to walk away, leaving her standing in the middle of the hall. He looked back, secretly to see if she was still there, but she wasn't.

_She had already slipped out of sight. _


	9. Disconnected

Disconnected

In the common room, surrounded by Slytherins, Draco sat and thought. He thought about Pansy, he thought about the kiss, he thought about Hermione. _I could have just left when she was crying, or told her to shut up… Why did I kiss her? I barely even know her. _His hand softly stroked his chin as he leaned to one side of the chair he sat in, and Pansy sat on the other arm.

"You know Granger, right?" Pansy said to another Slyhterin girl who sat across from the chair, "So that bitch had the nerve to not let me look at her potion's exam, I mean, what the hell?" she whined with a nastily tone, "I've also heard that she had sex with one of the teachers, Lupin I think, you know the one with all the scars? What a whore!" she laughed. "I swear I saw her give a 'bj' to him in the utility clos-"

Draco began to feel pressure in the air around him, "Shut up" he whispered.

Pansy happily looked back at him, "What babe?"

He slowly looked up at her, "Shut up."

She suddenly frowned, "W-what did you just say?"

"Oh, you didn't hear me?" he asked sarcastically, "How about in French? Tais-toi," he spat. Everyone in the common room stopped what they were doing. The room was silent as all of them held their breath with anticipation.

Pansy stood up in front of him, "Why are you being such an ass?!" her voice quivered. Draco then smiled, "I found your badmouthing like a bitch annoying, so I'm telling you to shut up."

"But _you _talk bad about people all the time!" she began to scream, her hands shook and face reddened.

"I actually put thought into it, you're just talking about someone like a little attention whore, I find it quite annoying to listen to," Draco looked at her, and kept his smirk the same.

"Y-you can't talk to me like that, I am _your_ girlfriend!" she screeched.

"Was."

"Oh's" were heard around the room, as though he had just won a wizard battle. Pansy then took out her wand, and pointed it toward him and her eyes watered.

"You are _NOT _going to break up with _ME_!" her voice went into a high pitched squeak.

His smile grew bigger, "But I just have."

"You asshole!"

"I've been called worse."  
"You'll go insane without me!"

"Change the 'without' to 'with', and I'd agree with you."

"Go fuck off!"

"I'd like to, but you've done it enough for the both of us."

"UGHH! Incarcerous!" long rope suddenly came out of her want toward Draco.

"Incendio" quickly left his lips and burned the rope. Pansy stormed out of the room as she had felt defeated.

_A week before Draco walked past the prefect's bathroom and heard similar moans; he looked in and saw Pansy having sex with Terence Higgs. _


End file.
